Dads urged to up their game in new parenting program

If raising kids is a team sport then dads need help to up their game, according to a new parenting program fronted by former Olympic basketball star Andrew Gaze.

The ParentWorks program was born after research found mums were far more likely to seek help dealing with troublesome children, and dads were unrepresented.

Gaze and broadcaster Tim "Rosso" Ross have signed up as ambassadors for the program, which launches today and is the first nationwide, fully online, free parenting program that is taking a decidedly "father-friendly" approach.

"You sometimes look back and think, 'well, you could've handled that a bit better'," Gaze said of parenting, in one of a series of videos rolled out on TV, radio and online alongside the program.

Other "everyday dads" have also recorded videos that urge fathers to be more proactive in raising their kids and to not just rely on repeating the tactics of their parents.

"Even though I was smacked as a child, with a house full of six kids and two adults we don't want to resolve problems with violence," dad Andrew said in a video.

A survey of 1,000 fathers conducted for the ParentWorks program found two in three children with behavioural problems were boys, but that it was mostly mothers who sought help and they spoke to female practitioners.

Research also found only one in six practitioners reported that fathers often attended their programs.

"A really big part of this is helping parents to be a better team together," clinical psychologist Dr David Hawes told ABC News Breakfast.

"You could say that parenting is a team sport and we are helping dads to do that better.

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